Aaron Hicks understands getting booed by Yankees fans
New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks has made it known he doesn't love getting booed during home games but also gets that it's up to him to eliminate such jeers.
"I understand it 100 percent," Hicks said of being a target of boos at Yankee Stadium this spring, per Dan Martin of the New York Post. "Right now, I’m focusing on myself and trying to get off to a hot start and just play baseball and have fun."
Hicks was routinely booed by fans during home games in 2022 amid his struggles at the plate, and he slashed .216/.330/.313 with eight home runs and 40 RBI across 130 regular-season games. Those numbers were made worse by the fact that he signed a seven-year, $70M contract extension ahead of the 2019 campaign.
Back in February, Hicks admitted that "baseball wasn’t fun" for him last year. Slugger Anthony Rizzo later vowed he and teammates such as Aaron Judge would show the 33-year-old he is "loved and protected" by those in the clubhouse, but such actions have done little to silence paying customers upset at the fact that Hicks went 0-for-7 with three strikeouts during the opening homestand of 2023.
It also didn't help Hicks' cause that he recently revealed he was unhappy about a lack of playing time.
"It comes with it," Hicks continued during his comments. "You’ve got to produce. If you’re not producing, you get those kinds of results [from the crowd]. I’m just worried about producing and getting hits, playing really good defense and everything else will take care of itself. I know I can get back to where I want to be."
Individuals such as WFAN radio host Brandon Tierney (h/t Audacy), Newsday's Anthony Rieber and others are already suggesting that parting ways as soon as possible could ultimately benefit both the Yankees and Hicks:
It sounds like manager Aaron Boone is hoping that the Yankees hitting the road could be just what Hicks needs.
"I think he’s through that phase where it could be a little overwhelming and uncomfortable," Boone said about the sounds and comments Hicks hears just about every time he's at the plate in the Bronx. "He just wants to move forward. … The biggest thing is to control the moment and [go] pitch-by-pitch. I feel like he did a good job of that the last two weeks of spring training."
The 4-2 Yankees next play at the 3-3 Baltimore Orioles on Friday afternoon.
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